SEAG GOLD AASINTAHIN NG PINOY BATTERS

KUMPIYANSANG magbabalik ang Philippine baseball sa Southeast Asian Games, salamat sa grupo ng young batters mula sa collegiate ranks, sa bagong liderato nito at sa all-out support ng Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Pinangungunahan ni Philippine Amateur Baseball Association (PABA) president Chito Loyzaga ang inaasahan niyang muling pagsilang ng baseball sa bansa, simula sa natatanaw na gold medal sa nalalapit na 30th Southeast Asian Games na iho-host ng bansa.

“Our biggest competitor in baseball are Indonesia and Thailand because may mga programa rin sila sa mga lower age levels. But I will bet my name, siguradong gold tayo this time,” pahayag ni Loyzaga patungkol sa kanyang mga atleta sa baseball na magbabalik sa SEA Games matapos ang tatlong beses na pagliban.

Ang koponan ay kasalukuyang sumasabak sa 019 Asian Baseball Championship sa Taichung, Taiwan bilang bahagi ng kanilang final preparations para sa biennial meet.

“We are on schedule. When the men’s team comes back (from Taiwan), I think we’ll have a few practices here and siguro mga two weeks before sometime in the middle of November, doon na sila mag-eensayo sa Clark para masanay na sila sa venue, sa talbog ng bola, sa lahat.”

Makaraang gulantangin ang China sa Asian tournament noong Miyerkoles,  1-0, ang mga Pinoy ay natalo sa South Korea, 2-12. Sa parehong araw, ginapi ng Chinese ang Koreans, 4-3, upang ipuwersa ang three-way tie sa 2-1 (win-loss) sa pagitan ng Filipinas, China at Korea. Gayunman, dahil sa mas magandang tie-break record, ang South Korea at China ay napunta sa super round, kasama ang Japan at host Chinese Taipei.

Subalit para kay Loyzaga, anak ni Filipino basketball great Carlos Loyzaga, malinaw ang mensahe – ang Filipinas ay nabibilang sa malaking liga.

“This is really part of their training program that they underwent in preparation for the SEAG. Doon sa Men’s Championship, nandoon ‘yung big countries, among them are Japan, Korea, and China. That was the game plan, to win over China,” ani Loyzaga.

“Unfortunately lang, hindi tumugma dahil hindi naman under our control na natalo ng China ang Korea. Kahit ano pa man, sabi ko sa kanila na we will stick to our game plan and I’m happy for all of you for achieving something and we did what we have to do and we were also able to show to everyone that we are here to compete.”

“I want to take this opportunity to thank the Philippine Sports Commission for all the support they have given to us, not only sa national team. As of now, we have established the first-ever Philippine women’s baseball team and they will compete next month in China, representing the country,” aniya.

“It’s in our mandate to support sports projects, as many as our funds can allow,” sabi naman ni Ramirez. “And baseball, which had produced great Filipino athletes in the past, is among the sports where we are hoping to see a revival.” CLYDE MARIANO